In current EAS systems, EAS tags or labels are applied to articles and are detectable by an EAS system if unauthorized removal of an article with an activated EAS tag is attempted. One type of EAS tag comprises a length of amorphous magnetic material which is positioned substantially parallel to a length of magnetizable material used as a control element. When an active tag, i.e., one having a magnetized control element, is placed in an alternating magnetic field, which defines an interrogation zone, the tag produces a detectable valid tag signal. When the tag is deactivated by demagnetizing its control element, the tag no longer produces the detectable tag signal. Such deactivation of the tag, can occur, for example, when an employee of a retail establishment passes an EAS tagged article over a deactivation device at a checkout counter thereby deactivating the tag.
Generally, deactivation devices of tags include a coil structure energizable to generate a magnetic field of a magnitude sufficient to render the tag "inactive." In other words, the tag is no longer responsive to incident energy applied thereto to provide an output alarm or to transmit an alarm condition to an alarm unit external to the tag.
Examples of deactivation devices include those sold under the trademarks Speed Station.RTM. and Rapid Pad.RTM. commercially available from the assignee, Sensormatic Electronics Corporation of Boca Raton, Fla. The Rapid Pad.RTM. deactivator, which generates a magnetic field when a tag is detected, has a single or planar coil disposed horizontally within a housing. Deactivation occurs when the tag is detected moving horizontally across in a coplanar disposition and within a four inch proximity of the top surface of the housing located on top of a check-out counter.
The Speed Station.RTM. deactivator has a housing with six coils orthogonally positioned therein to form a "bucket-like" configuration. An employee inserts an article or plurality of articles into the open side of the bucket. The employee then deactivates the inserted articles by manually triggering the deactivator.
The Speed Station.RTM. deactivator includes six coils divided into three coil pairs, which are disposed about the bucket in respective x, y and z-axis planes. The coils of each coil pair are positioned parallel to one another and the coil pairs are driven one pair at a time in sequence resulting in a three step sequence for deactivation of an EAS tag. Because the coils are in three planes, orientation of the tag with respect to the coils is not required, however, the tag needs to be inserted inside the cavity of the bucket to permit deactivation.
The above-described deactivators are limited in their usefulness in that the deactivation zone or area for deactivating the EAS tags is restricted to the area and height of the planar coil configuration of each deactivator. For example, when using the Rapid Pad.RTM. deactivator, the deactivation zone for deactivating a tag exists only in a horizontal or coplanar direction and within a four inch proximity from the top surface of the housing of the deactivator. This requires the operator to make sure that the tag is within close proximity to the surface of the Rapid Pad.RTM. deactivator to ensure that the tag is deactivated. With respect to the Speed Station.RTM. deactivator, its deactivation zone exists only inside of its "bucket" configuration, thus requiring the tag to be inserted therein.
Because of the limited range or area of the deactivation zone of each device, deactivation of a tag attached to an article is sometimes ineffective if the tag has not been properly positioned in relation to the deactivator being used. This can result in false alarming of the EAS system which is undesirable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved deactivation device for deactivating EAS tags.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a deactivation device which increases and extends the deactivation area or zone in which EAS tags can be deactivated.
It is additional object of the present invention to provide a deactivation device which is simple and easy to use in order to deactivate EAS tags.